Dallas store owner fatally shoots robber

DALLAS - The owner of an east Dallas convenience store fatally shot an armed robbery suspect late Tuesday night.

It happened at the Shop-N-Go on Munger Boulevard and Columbia Avenue just before 10 p.m.

Owner Bunthan Te said two masked gunmen walked into the store. One jumped over the counter and the other held his wife at gunpoint.

Te struggled with his gun and it jammed. That’s when he said one of the suspects chased him into the cooler.

“When I ran into the cooler, he comes over here and shot me right here,” Te said.

There was a brief shootout at close range in the cooler. Te wasn’t hit and he doesn’t remember hitting the suspect, but the man ran away after that.

Te then went to help his wife. She was able to break away and he took the opportunity to fire shots at the other suspect.

Police believe there were actually three suspects involved in the robbery. Two of them got away and the man the store owner shot died in the parking lot.

Te said he doesn’t like guns, but keeps one at the store always to protect himself and his wife.

“That's why I shoot. To protect her. To protect my family,” Te said.

A grand jury will review the facts of the case, but police said the shooting appears to be justified.